The Fall of Menzobarranzan
by WinterB
Summary: Venethiel, a moon elf orphaned in a savage Drow attack, must infiltrate the Drow city of Menzobarranzan to exact her revenge. With the help of her friend, the sun elf Nionwen, and a certain Drow named Drizzt, can she get into Menzobarranzan and destroy the lives of the race responsible for the destruction of her clan, or will she fail, and be killed or enslaved in the underdark?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Hello, and thank you for taking a look at my story. This is the first time I've written anything for the public, so I'm sure people can give me some pointers. I would love to hear everyone's constructive criticism, but please, don't just tell me my story sucks. Tell me why it sucks, so I can make it not suck. Just remember, I'm just a guy who wants to be a writer, so don't just be a dream crusher, help me make my work better. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review.

_ **Chapter 1**_

As the tall, pale, young elf stood in front of the cave's entrance, starring into it with her piercing green eyes, the light reflecting off of the golden flecks scattered through her startling irises, her jet black hair whipping in the wind, she could not help but return to that fateful day, twenty years ago.

_She was celebrating with her clan under the full moon, as every other Moon Elf would be tonight, for it was the night of the full moon. It should be a pleasant occasion, but Venethiel felt a chill on the back of her neck. She also noticed that a strange silence had fallen over the area, as if the entire forest was holding it's breath. The only noise was that of her elven compatriots. She tried to ignore the feelings and continue to celebrate, but she could not concentrate. She told her mother she was going for a walk and started away from the encampment. As she entered the forest, she noticed several pairs of glowing red eyes.  
'They could belong to some of the others,' she thought.  
Then she realized that everyone else was celebrating. They could not belong to others of her clan. She decided to turn back, but not to go running and screaming. If she did that, and the eyes belonged to enemies, she may provoke them to attack her or her clan. She had no weapons with her, and her clan was woefully unprepared for an attack of any sort. She started calmly toward her clan's camp, pretending not to have noticed that anything was amiss. As soon as she reached camp, she searched for her mother. She found her talking with a group of other adults.  
"Mother, there are things in the forest. I saw their eyes, and they can see in the infrared spectrum, like an elf. But we are all here," Venethiel whispered urgently to her Mother.  
"I'm sure it's nothing. Don't worry you little head," her mother said back calmly.  
"Will you at least ask some of the others to carry a blade, for safety?" she asked.  
"Fine, if it will put you mind at ease," her mother huffed.  
"Also, could I please have my own sword, and a bow?" Venethiel begged her "I think I'm old enough now."  
Her mother looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. She led her to a small tent, full of assorted weapons. Her mother asked Venethiel to pick what appealed to her. She spotted a pair of swords, with circular handles and guards, and flexible-looking, slightly curved blades made of mithril. She drew the swords and tested them with a few short routines. They felt perfect in her hands, like an extension of her arm, their graceful arks cutting through the air with ease. She then picked out a bow. It was strong and about three quarters as tall as herself, made of ebony, intricate designs etched into the polished black wood.  
Just then, Venethiel heard a deafening battle cry and screams of surprise and distress. The clashing of weapons quickly followed. She heard screams of pain, rage, agony, and worst of all, cries of death.  
"Run for you lives, it's the Drow!" Someone screamed.  
She rushed outside to help. It was utter chaos, with skirmishes between her clan members and the Dark Elves. A few Dark Elves ran around the camp unchecked, and were slaughtering the defenseless. Venethiel rushed up to one of them and engaged him in combat. She was hard-pressed to keep herself alive, let alone go on the offensive. Then, the dark elf disarmed her and knocked her to the ground. The dark elf lifted his blade, his eyes hungering for her death. Then the dark elf fell back, dead, an arrow in his neck. She turned and saw her mother standing behind her, bow in hand. Then, she saw something in the shadows behind her. She tried to warn her, but it was to late. The dark elf stabbed both swords through her back, and Venethiel watched the light leave her mother's green eyes. Someone pulled her to her feet and rushed her toward the edge of the clearing, where a few warriors were herding the young out of the camp. She heard a sound like a crossbow, but quieter, and the person who helped her went down behind her, but she kept running. She heard the clash of blades and cries of battle behind her as she rushed down the woodland path, never looking back._

Venethiel pushed away the painful memory and looked at the cave, steeling her nerves. Just as Venethiel started toward the cave, she heard someone running at her from behind. She turned to see her only friend, Nionwen, running down the path toward her. Nionwen was a tall, tan sun elf. She had golden eyes and hair, and since Venethiel had met her, Nionwen had saved her from disaster many a time.  
"Are you insane?" Nionwen shouted, still running up the trail "You know that you wouldn't survive one day down there!"  
"Honestly, I don't care," Venethiel stated flatly. "I finally found a way to avenge my fallen kin, and I will avenge them now, or die trying."  
"Then I'm following you, and you can't stop me," she retorted. "I'll not let you go on a suicide mission alone."  
"Fine, come if you want, but don't slow me down," Venethiel replied.  
As soon as her sun elf friend had caught up with her, Venethiel stepped into the cave. As her foot passed through the mouth of the cave, an ear-shattering explosion shook the land, and Venethiel felt herself become weightless. She heard Nionwen scream and saw her get blasted into the nearby woods. Then everything went black, and she felt nothing.

That's the first chapter, and I hope you enjoyed. In case you didn't guess, Venethiel's chosen weapons are Katanas and a longbow. I hope to get the next chapter up soon, since I'm not doing much else, but school tends to get in the way of things.


	2. Chapter 2: The Dark Elf

Hi. This is chapter two of my story, and I'm gonna have to start writing who is talking, since this story is told from multiple viewpoints and I can't find any other way to separate the different sections. Again, please leave a review, and I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 2**

**Drizzt:**  
As the Drow walked down the wooded trail, remembering past adventures and wishing for some excitement and chaos to come into his life, he heard an explosion to the east. Smiling at his fortune and grimacing at the way his wish had manifested, he rushed off in the direction of the blast.  
As soon as Drizzt got to the sight, he knew magic was to blame. It was obvious that the blast was pure force, not a fireball, and it was directed in one direction specifically. Around the mouth of the cave, it looked like a hurricane had come through, but the inside of the cave was completely undisturbed. Another tell-tale sign something was amiss was that the destruction was in a perfect semi-circle.  
As Drizzt looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, he noticed a mithril blade, stabbed into a thick pine at the edge of the trail. He searched for the owner of the blade, and he discovered a tall, pale, beautiful young moon elf with long black hair, laying unconscious at the edge of the trail. As the drow easily lifted the elf, he noticed a second elf, this one stuck high in the branches of a pine, her golden hair in a rat's nest. She was slightly shorter and somewhat tanner than the other. Drizzt groaned and set the first elf against the pine the sword was stuck in. He then proceeded to clime the tree to retrieve the golden-haired elf, a sun elf by his guess.  
He then looked them over. Neither of them seemed to have suffered serious wounds, and were both still alive. The first elf, the moon elf, had scabbards for two identical swords, one with a sword, the other empty, and an ebony bow. He pulled the sword from the pine and tested the empty scabbard, and the blade fit perfectly. Her weapons must have been enchanted, because they had suffered no damage in the explosion. Judging by the weapons she carried, he guessed she was a ranger, but couldn't be sure. The other elf wore light robes and a belt with many pouches. Drizzt was fairly sure she was a spell caster of some sort.  
Drizzt set up camp and positioned the elves as comfortably as possable and left them to recover. He stacked their equipment nearby and waited for them to awaken.

**Venethiel**:

Venethiel awoke with a start. She sat up and looked around her. She was in a small camp, sitting near a fire. Her weapons and Nionwen's spell casting components were stacked in a neat pile nearby. An elf was running through complex routines with a pair of curved swords. Then she saw his black skin and white mane of hair.  
'Stupid!' She thought. 'I should have had Nionwen check for traps before we entered the cave. Now I'm prisoner to a drow.'  
But, she realized, her hands were not bound. And the dark elf's weapons, cloak, and armor were not of drow make. No drow would leave a prisoner unbound, and why would a drow carry a weapon created by their enemies? She decided to take no chances. She quickly retrieved her swords and charged the elf.  
Venethiel was a skilled fighter, but she never had a chance. Within seconds the drow had disarmed her and had his blade to her throat. He lowered and sheathed his swords and introduced himself.  
"Hello, I am Drizzt Do'urden, dark elf and ranger. I am not you enemy" the dark elf said sincerely.  
She stalked away and sat down by the fire, glaring at the drow. Venethiel didn't know what to make of the dark elf, and that irked her. The drow didn't seem like her enemy or her warden, but he was a dark elf. She glared in his direction and waited for Nionwen to wake up so they could continue their journey.

Thanks for reading, and sorry about the huge intro. I'll upload the next chapter soon, hopefully. Please, leave a review and help me improve my writing.


	3. Chapter 3: Into The Underdark

Hi, this is chapter 3 of my story. Sorry about the wait but a lot of stuff has been going on in school, so I haven't had time to write, but I did manage to find some time, and I also figured out how to separate sections of the story. I hope you enjoy, and please, leave a review.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Some time after Venethiel's fight with the drow, Nionwen awoke. After her initial shock, Venethiel was able to convince Nionwen to sit next to her. Venethiel got up to pack their belongings up while Nionwen glared suspiciously at the drow. Once Venethiel had her quiver and bow slung over her shoulder, with her twin swords in their scabbards at her waist, and Nionwen had secured the pouches containing her various casting components to her belt, the two companions started toward the entrance to the Underdark.

"Stop!" The drow, Drizzt, shouted "you don't want to go down there! You wouldn't survive one tenday alone."

Venethiel ignored him and had Nionwen check for any magical traps, while she herself made sure there were no tripwires, triggers, or any other manner of normal trap. After they were sure that it was safe, they started down the tunnel, toward the people responsible for her clans' brutal slaughter. As she walked down the tunnel, she heard light footsteps behind her. She turned to see the drow following them.

"Why are you following us, dark elf?" She asked pointedly.

"Because, as I told you, you will not survive a tenday down there alone," the drow said. "If I can't stop you, I will come to make sure you get where you're going alive, wherever that is."

Venethiel huffed indignantly, not appreciating being treated like a child in need of babysitting, and stormed off down the dark tunnels of the Underdark, letting her vision slip into the infrared spectrum.

* * *

Drizzt chuckled, watching the angry elf storm away. This would be a very interesting adventure indeed.

After a long while of walking, they stopped to make camp, and Drizzt stood watch, reflecting on the excitement the day had brought him, and wondering what was to come.

* * *

That was chapter three of The Fall of Menzobarranzan, and I hope you liked it. Sorry it is so short, but I couldn't think of anything else to add to this. I'll post Chapter four as soon as I can, and please leave a review


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